1. Field
An air conditioner system and a method of controlling an air conditioner system are disclosed herein.
2. Background
An air conditioner is installed to discharge hot air or cool air into a room, thereby creating a comfortable indoor environment, adjusting a temperature of the room, and purifying air in the room. In general, the air conditioner may include an indoor unit or device, constituted by a heat exchanger, installed in the room and an outdoor unit or device, constituted by a compressor and a heat exchanger, to supply refrigerant to the indoor unit.
In the air conditioner, the indoor unit constituted by the heat exchanger and the outdoor unit constituted by the compressor and the heat exchanger may be separately controlled. The supply of electric power to the compressor or the heat exchanger may be controlled to operate the air conditioner. In addition, the air conditioner may be configured such that at least one indoor unit is connected to a single outdoor unit. According to a requested operation state, refrigerant may be supplied to the indoor unit such that the air conditioner is operated in a cooling mode or in a heating mode.
The air conditioner may perform a cooling operation or a heating operation based on flow of the refrigerant. During the cooling operation, high-temperature, high-pressure liquid refrigerant may be supplied from the compressor of the outdoor unit to the indoor unit via the heat exchanger of the outdoor unit. The high-temperature, high-pressure liquid refrigerant may be expanded by the heat exchanger of the indoor unit. As a result, the refrigerant may be evaporated to lower the temperature of air around the heat exchanger of the indoor unit. An indoor unit fan may be rotated to discharge cool air into the room. During the heating operation, high-temperature, high-pressure gaseous refrigerant may be supplied from the compressor of the outdoor unit to the indoor unit. The high-temperature, high-pressure gaseous refrigerant may be liquefied by the heat exchanger of the indoor unit. Air heated by energy emitted from the refrigerant may be discharged into the room according to operation of the indoor unit fan.
In a case in which a plurality of indoor units is connected to a single outdoor unit, in a case in which a plurality of outdoor units is connected to each other, in a case in which a plurality of units, such as a ventilation unit or device and a heat pump, is connected to each other, or in a case in which a plurality of air conditioner sites is connected to each other, the above-mentioned units may be integrally managed through an additional central control device.
Conventionally, the central control device groups a plurality of units or divides the units into predetermined zones, such that the central control device may control the units on a per group basis or on a per zone basis. However, formation and change of the groups or the zones and addition of a new group or a new zone may be performed by only the central control device, which is inconvenient.
In addition, a plurality of units may be controlled through access to the central control device using a terminal. However, a control range may be limited. Furthermore, an object to be controlled may be selected through a complex menu, which is troublesome and inconvenient.